OZARK, Mo. — Missed opportunities in the first half put Joplin in a hole by the intermission too big to recover from as top-seeded and second-ranked Nixa ultimately pulled away for a 68-46 win in the Class 6 District 5 semifinals on Friday at Ozark High School.
“We were down nine at half, but just off the top of my head I know we missed eight points in layups and were three-of-nine (from the free-throw line),” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said after the game. “Against a team like that, you can’t miss bunnies. We could have gone into halftime down two or three, and that could have made a world of difference. I think we lost two in the third quarter, and after that we were trying to scramble and you can’t against a team like that.”
Joplin finishes the season 17-10 and graduates seniors Terrance Gibson and Grayden Cravens.
“I thought we could have been a 20-win team easily,” Schaake said when asked to look back on the season as a whole. “There were four games throughout the year that we lost by a total of six points. That could have been a 21 or 22-win season. We are going to miss Terrance, obviously, but we got a lot of young guys that we threw out there who got a lot of experience this year. They definitely got better (as a team) throughout the year when they gelled. I thought the last month and a half that we were playing pretty good basketball. We need to have a great offseason to try and catch these teams out here like Kickapoo, Republic and Nixa.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin trailed by nine heading into the intermission, 33-24, but it wasn’t for a lack of opportunities. The Eagles missed seven free throws in the first half and failed to convert on several high-percentage looks in the paint during the first two periods of play.
“We should have finished better around the rim,” Schaake said of his team’s play in the first half. “I think we were thinking they were going to be more physical with us, but when we were getting to the rim and getting into the paint, I thought we were the stronger team. When you don’t finish on one end against a really good team they’ll make you pay for it. We were getting it where we wanted, we just couldn’t capitalize on it.”
Nixa built a 10-point lead in the first quarter after an 11-2 run fueled by the 3-ball. Devon Kemp knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, while Kael Combs added a long-range make to help NHS build a 20-10 lead with less than two minutes to play in the opening quarter.
Joplin closed the first with a floater and a free throw by All Wright before Whit Hafer pulled down an offensive rebound for a putback score to open the second period, with Wright adding a score from the low block with 7:10 on the clock to cut the deficit to one possession, 20-17.
Nixa ultimately pushed the advantage to nine heading into halftime after getting a third-chance putback score at the buzzer from Jackson Cantwell.
Nixa pushed its lead as high as 17 points in the third quarter after Noah Engleman and Corey Kemp scored inside on consecutive possessions before Kemp buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to 45-28 with 4:49 on the clock.
Joplin trimmed the lead back down to 10 after back to back dunks from Gibson and Wright before an NBA-range 3-pointer from the wing by Wright made the score 45-35 with two minutes left, with JHS going into the fourth quarter down 11.
Nixa started the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 16 and paced Joplin to the final horn.
SCORING LEADERS
Combs led Nixa with 17 points, while Corey Kemp was right behind with 16. Devon Kemp and Josh Peters finished with nine each.
Wright led Joplin with 20 points, while Gibson finished with 10. Quin Renfro finished with nine points, while Hafer closed with seven.
UP NEXT
Undefeated Nixa (28-0) advances to take on Kickapoo (20-8) in the Class 6 District 5 title game scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday.
